Georgetown Game: Beer, Costumes, Win

So I was sitting in the proscribed media section during the first half of Georgetown's win over Pitt on Saturday, but the two radio persons next to me kept talking about karaoke bars and their evening plans and whatnot (and no offense, radio persons, if you're reading this, but man that was annoying), so late in the first half I gave up and left to wander around the student sections, figuring if I wanted to hear about bar life instead of basketball life I might as well do it there.

And lo and behold, a weird, early-evening, pre-chaos Halloween Party had broken out. Like, there was one dude passed out in his seat. And some other kid came up to me while I was interviewing his buddies and announced he had just thrown up in the bathroom. And I watched an usher stop a young woman from entering the men's bathroom. And, everywhere, the floor was sticky with beer, and the toilets weren't flushed, and there was lots of extraneous groping and kissing, especially during halftime. Plus, the Geico people were passing out headbands and wristbands, just in case anyone's palms were getting too sweaty or whatever, and all the headbands and wristbands somehow added to the vibe. Matter of fact, I'm wearing my Geico wristbands as I type this.

Anyhow, for whatever reason, there seemed to be an especial number of costumes among the students on Saturday. And I'm not talking about the guy with the painted-on Fu Manchu, or the guy with the Siberian bomber hat, or the dozens of kids with bandanas over their heads. I'm talking actual costumes.

For example, Andrew Leighton, who was in the mayhem behind the East backboard, wearing no shirt and a Pikachu mask. I asked him why. Something (excitement, perhaps?) prevented us from having a coherent exchange of information, but luckily his friend, Colin Behr, stepped in.

"We're Georgetown, we wear whatever we want to wear," Colin continued. "You do dirty, you get dirty done to you. That means we do whatever we want to do. After we beat Pitt, you'll see what that means."

"Here's my quote: 'We're taking over'," Andrew said.

By this point a mob had gathered, attempting to give me more quotes and, in its enthusiasm, spitting all over my notepad. Actual globules of spit. Someone was talking about streaking through the Capitol Building. I figured it was time for me to move on. Anyhow, I had seen a parrot walking around on an upper level, so I went up to the concourse in search of the parrot. Who turned out to be Big Denny Hannan. Who told me "If you write an article about me you better refer to me as Big Denny Hannan or I'm gonna sue." Fair enough. As for the parrot costume?

"I bought it for Halloween," Big Denny Hannan told me. "I spent $80 on this costume. I figured I have to wear it more than once. That, and peer pressure. I wore it for Homecoming, too."

"The question is, why not?" interrupted Matt Sutherland (MSB '08, if that means anything to you). "To be or not to be, that is the question."

"The real question is, why aren't more people wearing parrot costumes?" Big Denny Hannan wanted to know, leaving me stumped. In fact, I'm not sure that I've ever seen a parrot costume at a DI game, and I can't think of a single reason why that should be the case. Big Denny Hannan also went on a long speech about how great it was that Georgetown finally had a male cheerleader.

Anyhow, Big Denny Hannan was standing next to two guys dressed in matching Devil and Angel costumes.

"I'm praying for Georgetown, the first Jesuit school in the whole country," the Angel said.

"I'm rooting for a hot spring," the Devil said. "The gopher really did me a favor. I'm referring to the groundhog; I call it a gopher. Everyone's going to be rooting for snow outside, but it's going to be hot, and there's going to be Hoya Paranoia."

Turns out the angel was senior John Wilson, and the devil was senior Mike Mahar. Like Big Denny Hannan, they were also attempting to squeeze some extra usage out of Halloween costumes. But they had other motivations, as well.

From left, the Angel, the Devil, working together.

"Pittsburgh, it's like, would you rather live in hell or Pittsburgh?" the Devil asked. "I figure it's a flip of the coin, so I decided to wear this."

"Honestly, I'm dressed like this so that God would be on the Hoyas' side today," the Angel said. "And what's God without the Devil?"

"You've got to present two sides to every story, that's the main point," the Devil said. "Hoya Paranoia will prevail."

"We're going to start wearing them to every game," the Angel said of their costumes.

"We're going to be like the guy with the 'John 3:16' sign," the Devil said. "No one really understood what that meant, but everyone understands this."

"I'm wearing women's tights right now and having an awesome time," said the Devil, who was indeed wearing red tights.

"The Angel and Devil are finally working together," the Angel said. "I'll tell you one thing, this Angel is going to be praying for the Hoyas for the rest of the season."

"I'm not rooting for Satan, I want to make that clear," the Devil said. "I'm just [the Angel's] counterpart."

The chicken, with an unidentified friend.

Right about this time, Pitt was starting on its second-half run, which culminated in an eight-point lead, and the Angel apologetically explained that they needed to get back to watching the game. I assume that's why the Hoyas finally pulled ahead, because the Angel and Devil had started concentrating on the game again. So I sort of wandered around until Georgetown won, and then I headed down to the main concourse, where students were jumping up and down and chanting chants that involved the word "Pitt" and other words I'm not allowed to mention. And then I saw a chicken wandering around, wearing a Roy Hibbert jersey.

The chicken was freshman Justin Kondos, who actually wears the costume to every Georgetown game, "just because I thought it'd be cool," he explained. "It's to raise spirit, I don't know."

Yeah, I don't know either. The chicken left, and I ran into Big Denny Hannan again, who said "I don't care about the chicken," and then there was a little kid pointing at Denny and saying "the chicken, mom," even though Denny was the parrot not the chicken, and so finally I left all of that and made my way down to the media area, just in time to listen to the players talking, which thoroughly convinced me that kids in the stands dressed like parrots or devils or angels are better quotes than basketball players, every time.

Van Pelt makes a point of shouting out Bentley's when he does SportsCenter after a big Terps win. I heard him speak at UMD, and he said he does it because he spent as much time there as he did in class toward the end of his time in College Park.

I can explain the Fu Manchu--it was an homage to the Hoyas starting SF, DeJuan Summers. I cannot, however, explain anything else you described. If I could, I would probably be a little worried about my sanity.

Dan, while I get the point of the haha, aren't college student ridiculous nature of the post don't think it might have been worth including the caveat that student interest and attendance at the Verizon Center are at all time highs. I assure you that there are a number of coherent and knowledgeable fans there as well. As a student during the tail end of the Eshrick era it's amazing to come back to DC and incredible level of student support, no matter how moronic it may be. The three year turnaround that JTIII has engineering is nothing short of astonishing and there's nothing a few goofy guys in costumes can do to mitigate that.

We always had a name for those people back in the day - its called media [edited] (I hope I can write that [nope--the ed.]). Thanks for ensuring the return of more ignorant fans who just want to get noticed by somebody.

Dan-
I've been in the student section for every game this year, and made a few away games. There was a significant influx of students at the Pitt game, people who don't typically come to games. And for the record, I've never seen the guy dress up in a chicken costume at a game. He lied about dressing up for every game.

I'm not sure I have ever been more ashamed of being a Georgetown grad. I'm really surprised that Marc didn't mention the insane amount of booing directed towards the man promoting organ donations at halftime. Of course what kind of stupid program sends a representative that yells "Go Pitt!" In middle of trying to promote something at a Georgetwon game?

For years I've searched for a definitive answer as to why I flat out refuse to even shop in Georgetown, let alone go anywhere where I might run into anyone who actually attends the school. And then you go out and nail it on your very first try. Well played, sir.

Any time a program starts doing well or is a big deal, you're gonna get stuff like this. This is really quite mild, by comparison; a pretty good percentage of my friends at U of Alabama have gotten arrested/ejected from games, and they're all graduates of one of the best prep schools in Alabama (yes, I know, that's not exactly saying much, but still, they're not idiots).

For a lot of people, if they go to a sporting event, it's strictly for the social/drinking aspect. As long as they're in the stands cheering for the team, I don't particularly mind.

Wow.... Shocking to read about college kids acting like...college kids. A game between the top 2 Big East teams and this is what you spend the whole entry writing about? Typical anti-Georgetown bias from the Post. Twerp fans practically burn down College Park after a win, to put this in a little perspective.

Seriously, for as smart as you mouth-breathing Hoya fans claim to be, you're just going to have to come up with a better insult than Twerps. At the very least point out how much more money your parents have.

I was there but I wasn't in the student section (which was a good thing). Back when I went to Pitt (Howland era) I made the road trip for the Georgetown game, that time I sat in the student section with an Oakland Zoo t-shirt and never heard a peep. Things have changed under JT3. Now they just need to learn the difference between football and basketball. You don't need to wake up at the crack of dawn to start tailgating for basketball, you'll have more fun if you remember the game. Unlike football.

Whoa whoa whoa, time out, I love these people. Love them. I wouldn't have spent the whole game with them if I hadn't thought it was great fun. I would have done exactly the same thing were I in college; in fact, I think I used to wear ridiculous clothing to Delaware games. I still don't exactly understand the correlation between, say, a parrot and the Hoyas, but these are my people, and I was watching even less of the game than they were. All these other commenters making snide comments don't speak for me, and they certainly don't speak for The Post. If sporting events didn't have people dressed like parrots, I wouldn't like them.

As for actual basketball analysis, hogwash. We had a story and a column in Sunday's paper, and another Georgetown story today. The players don't say much of anything after games, and neither does the coach. If you follow this team, you'd end up laughing at my analysis anyhow. How's this: If the Hoyas play well in the NCAA tournament, they'll win a lot of games, unless they get upset, in which case they won't. I'd rather talk to the parrots.

I used to dress like a pumpkin at select maryland basketball games ... I even broke the old costume out for the Florida State football game this past season ... the pumpkin has been to RFK for Nats, Fedex for Redskins, and other local sporting venues ... bought it Value Village in Adelphi my sophomore year at UMD ...best six bucks I ever spent!

Chris, your shame results from the fact that didn't graduate from Georgetown. These are a handful of college kids having a good time and in no way doing anything wrong, as any real Georgetown grad would recognize. Get off your high horse.

Dan - Point taken. Thank you. Now if you could just ask Feinstein to write a column this season about the best local team instead of, say AU, it would be much appreciated. If he can, that is, get over the Hoyas absence from the BB&T Classic.

Georgetown is a great school, and the basketball team is by far the class of the Top 11. The poll shows that. Further, most people who grew up around here were Hoya fans at at least some point in their lives. Myself included.

But for some reason the Bog seems to be inhabited by Hoya fans who seem to somehow feel like underdogs. That's ridiculous. The team has been hyped since before the season began. And if you're fortunate enough to be able to attend Georgetown, chances are you've received your share of the breaks along the way. So quit whining and enjoy it while it lasts. And please, for the love of God, post the name of the kid with the penis drawn on his face.

Ah, so a real Georgetown grad can't be ashamed of the highlighting of the white hat idiots who can barely even speak (surprise, surprise, it's the dumbest one turns out to be from the Business School, wouldn't surprise me if all of those idiots were part of the b-frat). Granted this isn't quite as shameful as the time I was walking back to campus from Champs and we saw some filming for a night for West Wing when one of the guys I was walking with starting yelling at the crew for portraying Georgetown students as being drunken idiots, then walking straight into a tree.

I AM SO PROUD OF MY NUBER ONE GEORGETOWN HOYAS THEY ARE FIRST PLACE IN THE BIG LEAST JUST LIKE I CALLED IT I KNEW IT ALL A LONG!!!1!!111!ONE. EVER SINCE WE GOT THE GREAT TJ3 I NEW WE WERE GOING TO RETURN THE GLORY. FIRST WE GOT JEFF GREENJEANS, AND BIG ROY H-TO-THA-IZZO. NEW THERE'S "THE JUAN" SOMMERS AND VERNON MACLAN WHO WILL EAT YOU UP IF YOU ARN'T CAREFUL SO CRAM IT BUCKO!!!11!!1!1

THE TWERPS NEED TO GET OFF OUR JOKESTRAPS. SERIUSLY THEY ARE OLD NEWS AND HAVEN'T BENN TO THE FINAL 4 TURNAMENT SINCE BACK WHEN MY HOYAS TOOK SOME TIME OFF TO REST FROM ALL THOSE CHAMPIONSHIPS WE ONE BACK IN THE EIGHTYS. BUT NOW WE ARE B-A-C-K WITH A KAPITOL "B" YOU KNOW IT DON'T YOU!!!1!1

WE HAD ARE ROUGH TIMES BUT NOW ITS ALL GOOD CAUSE PATRICK EWEING TWO IS STARTING TO DOMINATE LIKE HIS DAD AT THE GOLD CLUB. BESIDES YOU CAN TELL MY HOYAS ARE BACK WHEN BIG DIKEMBE MORNING GETS TO SIT WITH BARBARA'S BUSH AT THE START OF THE UNION SPEACH I MEAN NEXT THING YOU KNOW VICTOR PAGE WILL GET HIS DEGREE FROM YOUDEECEE!

SO SHOVE IT TWERPS YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE TO SHINE WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU BEAT A TEAM LIKE THE MIGHTY PIT PANTHERS NEVER SO DONT COME AROUND HERE WITH THAT WEAK STUFF UNTIL YOU BEAT SOMEONE GOOD. ENERYBODY NOWS MY GORGETOWN HOYAS ARE THE BIZZOM EVEN GAY RAPPERS LIKE LILWANE ROCK THERE BASEBALL HATS. SO CALL ME WHEN YOU BEAT SOMEWON REAL UNTIL THEN I'LL BE STUNTIN LIKE MY DADDY HOYA SUXA RIDE FOR LIEF!!!!!!!

WoW! I thought the article was hysterical. Being a Georgetown season ticket holder as well as a MD fan, I never knew there was so much animosity. Georgetown doesn't have football, so the students make up for it with Basketball. Who's to blame them. If you pass out in public like that, especially that early, you deserve to get drawn on. Hold your liquor Junior, or stick to the O'Douls!

Chris,
Clearly you were one of the tool kids in the library while you were at Gtown making fun of all those "stupid drunk kids" because they were so drunk that they had to be stupider than you. Get off your high horse bro (does saying bro make me stupid in your eyes, ill bet it does). Also you were probably SFS so those business school kids you work for now probably really piss you off. Way to represent. You need to loosen up or move to Utah.

PS I dont care about if there are flaws in my punctuation and grammar, Chris, other people's perception of how smart they think I am doesnt get me off.

HAHA CHRISSY EVEN ARE OWN ALUMS KNOW YOUR NOT A REAL GEORGETOWN HOYA FAN LIEK US YOU MUST OF GOTTEN ALL PICKED ON WHEN YOU WENT THERE. I BET YOU DONT EVEN KNOW THE SECRET GORGETOWN PASSWORD FOR WHEN SOMETHING COOL HAPPENS ITS ALL BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-A-HA-HA JUST LIKE CHAD LOWE AND DIME MOORE AND JAMES SPADDER IN THE SAINT ELMOS BREAKFAST MOVIE. IF YOUD EVER BEEN TO THE TOOMS YOU MIGHT OF KNOWN THAT BUT YOU DIDN'T AND NOW YOU WANT TO INSULT THE GREAT BANDWAGON BOY?!!?.1!1?!! SERTIOUSLY YOU NEED TO LAY OFF THE HATERADE BRUH IT WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BITTER AND THAN WHAT WILL YOU BE A MERRYLAND FAN OR SOMETHING?!!!? GET OUT OF HERE WITH THAT WEAK STUFF BUCKO OR I WILL DEVOUR YOU LIKE JT2 DOES SAUSAGE SAMMICHES CRAM IT BUCKO!!!!!!11

I love the Hoyas and I loved this article... you don't understand the chicken n the parrot? You are not supposed to..its all part of the ridiculousness that's Hoya Paranoia...its great, its fun, its part of the school spirit...can u understand school spirit? I hope so...especially those Gtown grads out there that suddenly felt ashamed of their Alma matter.
What is that about?! Shame on you...

HOYA SAXA!! We work hard. We party hard. We make ourselves heard (even if it takes a chicken costume to do it)

BIG LONNIE WILCOTS WHASSUP HOMES I HAVENT HEARD FROM YOU SINCE BACK IN THE DAY WHEN MY MERRYLAND TERRAPINS WERE THE NUBER ONE TEMA IN ALL THE COLLEGE HOOPS!11!!

OH WELL THAT WAS THEN THIS IS NOW AND MY GORGETOWN HOYAS ARE UP AND COMING JUST LIKE ME ON A BIG NIGHT OUT AT THE BAYOU THAT CLUB IS THE GREATEST. MAYBE YOU SHOULD TELL GARY WILLIAMS TO GET A REAL OFFENCE MAYBE HE COULD GET SOME SECRETS FROM TJ3 THAT HE LEARNED UP AT HARVARD YOU KNOW HOW WE ROLL IVY LEGUE STYLE.

lol @ BWB. I'm glad to see he's done jockin Duke and moved onto the original bandwagon toolshed.

BWB isn't a Maryland fan, shows how much you guys know. Considering you've taken so long off from being a real program, I guess it's okay you don't know BWB, who's been around for at least 6 years all over the interweb.

I believe we already are known for the quality of our students, if you dont believe that then you definitely have some sort of complex.

If we want to highlight some kids having fun, like all other college kids do, and break the stereotypes of us having elitist attitudes then I think that is great. Sure we will catch some lip from oppposing fans but thats part of being a fan of a team. I just ask please dont play right into their hands by saying stuff like those business school kids blah blah blah. That just shows how ignorant and elitist you think you are by being in a different school in the SAME UNIVERSITY. You can accomplish great things while being humble and will look much better for it.

Hilarious stuff. How could any Georgetown grad be ashamed? People are turning up for the games and getting excited about basketball for the first time in a long time. If they dress like idiots and have a few cocktails, more power to them. There's more to life than the inside of the library, so any well-rounded college kid needs to spend some time letting loose and having a few adult beverages. To all of you naysayers: Get yourself a bird costume and wear it in public. If you can't grow a pair and do this, then do not judge. If you do it, you might have an amazing time.

Given that my spelling and grammar aren't very good and I generally don't pay attention to details, I'll leave it to someone else to see if you have any spelling or grammar errors, and while I have no problem with being drunk and rowdy, what I always hated were the media [edited], which is what we called them back in our day, the idiots who played to the cameras in a vain attempt to be wacky. If you're going to talk to the media, at least try to make sense and don't sound like an idiot. As for being jealous of b-school kids, since all of my roommates were in the b-school, I'm not sure what you mean, even they would admit they were idiots, although not as stupid as some of the kids in this post.

if you are a maryland fan and you read this thing, you must be pretty pathetic. as a georgetown fan i can definitely say that if this was about maryland basketball, i never would have considered reading it. i have always agreed that georgetown should play maryland every year just because it would be an interesting local rivalry, but we don't play maryland and they aren't in our conference. so why is it that maryland fans need to try and insult georgetown students when the georgetown students could care less about maryland??

nothing wrong with getting a little excited for just about the biggest game of the BIG EAST season thus far, especially when basketball is the best major sports team we've got

JEREMY I USED TO LOVE MY DUEK BLUE DEVILS BACK WHEN COACH KAY CARED ABOUT WINNING BUT NOW THAT THE GREAT JAYJAY REDDICK AND SHERWIN WILLIAMS AND CHRIS DUHON HAVE LEFT HE DOESNT CARE ABOIUT WINNING ANYMORE!!!!11!1!

MAYBE IF COACH KAY WOULD MAKE GREG PAULDING AND JOSH MCDONALDS WIN MORE I WOULD ROOT FOR THEM AGAIN BUT AS LONG AS THEMARCUS NEILSON PLAYS THEIR NOT GONNA GO ANYWHERE. BESIDES MY HOYAS WOULD KICK THEM TO THE CURB LIKE A HOE ON KAY STREET!!11!1!1!1!!!!

Nevermind there is no point. Clearly you dont see why I would care about you making fun of kids from our own school that have 0 correlation to the article. If that is the case so be it I dont feel like bickering anymore.

Dude, what's up? Raging the other night...were you there? Dude. Like, man. My parents are coming this weekend. Prob hitting 1789 Saturday night. Gotta get a haircut. Gotta talk to my dad about him getting me that pharma sales job in June. If that doesn't happen, he said something might be opening up at Brookings or PwC, too. Dude. Hope he works those connections! You going out, tonight?

ATTN: GEORGETOWN
You are not considered an underdog to the local media, polls, or blogs. I had no idea Georgetown fans could be so.... I want to say it's the same "local" fans that latch on to whatever team is doing the best, but many are claiming to be students or former students. I grew up a Georgetown fan during the latter years of the John Thompson era. I wouldn't be surprised to find many of the fans at the games now wouldn't know John Thompson Jr, if he weren't shown all of the time. Is that a sign of the times? No. Many student fans know nothing of the college teams they say they support or anything of the history. They are there to support their school. While silly, dressing up as something completely irrelevant is just what you might expect from a college kid who doesn't know much about the team but wants to have fun. So what is my problem with Georgetown fans recently? The local media has always loved Georgetown. Georgetown has a basketball tradition. I don't get why so many Georgetown fans feel slighted by the local coverage as if this was their triumphant return to high level basketball.

I still follow the program some and it was easy to see this season coming. Of the local George schools, many thought Georgetown would make it the farthest in the tournament last year(Yes, I had them beating Ohio State). Success this year shouldn't have been unexpected to Georgetown fans. I do believe the team is made up mostly of Juniors that came in for JT3s first year. The Hoyas did go to the Sweet Sixteen last year and the first year under JTIII the team went to the quarters of the NIT. John Thompson has rebuilt the program the right way.

Since the Maryland men won the National Championship and the football team had successful seasons(2001/2002), their fans have changed. With the added national recognition of Maryland and the influx of money into the athletic program, the fans changed. Then there were a couple years without the success the fans expected. A field house that was the home of history and tradition was replaced with a less than intimate sponsored building with strange stairs. In a short span, Maryland fans went from being some of the greatest in college basketball to ruder than West Virginia fans to some of the most awkward fans.

So what is the point of this long semi-rant? I don't know, but there is little reason for the animosity from Hoya fans towards the Terp supporters. Georgetown and Maryland are two of the hottest teams in the country. Both deserve recognition and appreciation for their accomplishments. The Hoyas wrapped up the Big East regular season while the Terps plan on making a run in the ACC tournament and being a bracket buster. The Hoyas may have a senior team next year with great freshmen and sophomores and the Terps will have Vasquez and a team free of guys who underperformed for the most of their four years. Save your hatred for next year Hoya fans.

i think i can pretty safely speak for almost all the juniors abroad right now, particularly those that know and love the above parrot, that we've not only never been prouder to be a hoya, but we are just sad that we couldn't be there in our own costumes. and to all those embarassed georgetown alums, we're embarassed you went to georgetown too.

Georgetown and Maryland kids should get along (even if Georgetown is the balls and College Park is Bowie's uglier step-sister). You're all a bunch of collar poppin' college boys who act a fool at college basketball games. Old news.

OH NO, College kids drink and do stupid stuff! This obviously proves that Georgetown is a classless institution that has no academic integrety! I love talking to Dan when he comes into the student sections because he gets stuff like this that, suprise suprise, is part of the college experiance. The Pitt game was the greatest atmosphere we had all year and is a sign of good things to come

Dan, your comments about "Don't get me wrong, I love these guys, this is what makes sports great" needed to be in the article. What you blogged about sounds like you are calling Georgetown fans a bunch of slack-jawed drunken idiots. I laughed a lot at the article, but your tone in the blog did not at all reflect what you said in the comments below.

I was at that game and it was an amazing good time. I remember the Parrot, Angel, and Devil, as they were in the section behind us. While they contributed to the festive spirit, I could have done without the requisite college straight-man screaming of things like, "so-and-so smokes pole" and "so-and-so is gay." Let's find something more clever/less hateful, shall we?

everyone who doesnt understand college humor and fan intensity can go **** themselves. to all the ashamed gtown alum: you were all nerds in college, and if you were here right now i would wedgie you like the old days. to all the terps fans: go get your own blog and talk [badword] to eachother you stupid, classless, lowlife scum. stay in college park [badwords].

WHEN IS TJ3 GOING TO STOP ALL THIS LOOSER CRAP? MY ORANGE SHOWED THOSE HOYA SUXAS HOW ITS DONE THATS RIGHT BABY IN YOU FACE. MAYBE ONE DAY YOU HOYAS WILL LEARN WHAT ITS LIEK TO BE A REEL PROGRAM BUT FOR NOW ITS JUST GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT AND JIMMY BAYHIME IS THE TRASHMAN YOU KNOW CAUSE HES TAKING YOU TO SCHOOL.

MAYBE JT TOO NEEDS TO COME BACK AND KICK HIS SONS BUTT AND TELL HIM TO STOP BEING A LOOSER MAYBE THEN MY HOYAS WILL RULE BUT UNTIL THEN MY ORANGE ARE NUBER ONE!!!1!!111!

While I actually find their behavior funny, I can see how some people may find it over the top. But really, is this not what college is about? Are people forgetting about movies like "Animal House?" Georgetown students know how to study hard and play hard. Our lack of fraternities and sororities unfortunately moves this college, animalistic (no pun intended) behavior to more public venues.
Hoyas are actually showing school spirit for once, and that is something we shouldn't find laughable. Not so long ago, when I was an undergraduate, tickets were never sold out and you could always find a seat on the bus to the game. This year they've expanded their student sections to 3, up from just one when I was there from 2000-2004. I challenge everyone to look to a D1 football game, and see if you find any different behavior.
What some of you may not know, is that the night before the game some Pitt fans defaced the HOYA SAXA sign on Canal Road. In my opinion, that type of behavior is much more disrespectful than simply wearing a parrot costume and being asked to be referred to in a silly manner.
I guess the bottom line is, this type of behavior is not unique to Georgetown, and I would go as far as to say that it is most likely ubiquitous at colleges throughout the US. Being in college is not only synonomus with studies, but also with fun, and it seems to me that the second association is being overlooked.

Dear "embarassed" alums: I'm sorry you had to suffer through some of the rough years. Maybe if you had a few drinks, or even some friends, it would have been a little easier for you to get through college. As for us current Hoyas, we're going to live this up, wear stupid costumes, knock back a few, talk about ridiculous things, and cheer for our boys at each and every game. Have fun, or go home. You're only 21 once, and most 21 year olds never get to experience Big East glory.

Just don't go kissing at George Mason games, a lady in a red sweater will assault you and tell you how rude and devilish you are. I now have a fear of women in red sweaters. It's stories like this that make me glad GMU ISN'T the only game in town. That would really suck.

You know, as a college basketball fan I hate the guys that dress up like idiots for games. In college I used to paint my body and yell and scream at games. I said it was to hype up the crowd and to show my loyalty; but lets be honest...it was to get on TV; To draw attention to myself.
That said, who here doesn't have something in their past they are asshamed of? Esspecially these days, when all colleges provide a gruelling slate of courses - all most students can do is blow off steam in one way or another. Some choose alcohol, others sex, some students even give back to the community charity organizations. The fact is that college students are college students.

They will argue about which sports team is better in the Washington Dc Area. They are going to argue about which school is better with whoever they are talking about.

Can't we all just be happy that G town basketball is back on the national map. Maryland has performing somewhere in the middle of the pack in the ACC. Both will probably make the NCAA. Everyone should agree with these three statements:

G town and Maryland are the best two basketball teams in the area - forget about Mason, VCU, ODU, etc etc. Those other teams can have nice seasons here and there - but over any 5 year period... G town and Maryland.
Gary Williams crys like a little girl!
JT3 should begin wearing a white towel over his shoulder, like his pops.

This is great. Much better to see school spirit alive and well at G'town. A big improvement over the days when it was me and 3 friends standing and chanting while the remainder of the student section couldn't get unglued from their seats.

As for UMD, the problem is that too many students and alums do act like Turds. Whether it's attempting to burn down College Park (win or loss) or constant hate/jealousy of other local schools, there are many examples to remind us that the letters U-M-D spell MUD.

So, I go to Georgetown, and it's not so bad that we had a chicken and a parrot and an angel and a devil and a Washington Post sports blogger who maybe read a bit too much Salinger or Banks. And, it's not so bad that we go to school in Georgetown or shop in Georgetown or eat in Georgetown, though the latter two and even, maybe, the former sport rather hefty bills that even we quote "rich white Catholics, [Asians, Jews, (ethnic or religious subgroup) etc.]" -end quote- can't afford. It's not even so bad that the Post supposedly favors Maryland over the big, black (though, mostly Caucasian and Asian) Hoyas, because they probably don't, at least not that much (I mean, not every team in the ACC or Big East can sport a line up as pure as Duke's). But it is rather bad that some drunk kids at a game have to justify for a few too many people why they're so negatively passionated about a medium-sized school that sits quietly over a quiet neighborhood that, generally, doesn't bother the rest of the city too much, except to pay its taxes. But hell, maybe if this were about Maryland or that other George-school, -Washington or Mason or something charming like that, then Georgetown students and fans would justify their enmity with those institutions. Though I very much doubt it. I doubt it because I expect that Georgetown students and fans would go on drinking and partying at weekend basketball games, and then go back to work and school on Sunday and the weekdays. Hell, maybe there would even be a Thursday night trip to the Tombs. Or even a Hoya columnist who, like this Post one, tries to do an honest interview, and maybe make a name for herself/himself in the process. But maybe not, we are only Georgetown, after all.

I was there: this is an exaggeration. Of course there are going to be people who give stupid quotes: people who say "you do dirty" aren't representative of Georgetown students in general. Also, of course the floors are sticky: it's a basketball stadium. How is "some of the fans were stupid" the subject of an article? Dan Steinberg tries to make this sound like some kind of scandal. That some people dressed up like chickens? That a couple of students were incoherent? That the floors were sticky? That there were wristbands (Steinberg makes a big deal of this)??? What is the scandal; what is the big deal here? Go write about Pitt's vandalizing the Hoya Saxa sign: that is a scandal and a real example of classless behavior. Or if you really want to write about a bad behavior in relation to college sports, go look at the recent scandals involving drunken brawls by Yale hockey and football and Harvard football. Also check out the brawl started by bitter Dartmouth football players after losing to Holy Cross (and Dartmouth's mascot, Keggy the Keg) and the New York Observer's article on racism and drunkenness at Princeton.

Anyone who is against having a good time at a sporting event obviously didn't go to Georgetown. I think it's pathetic that people are ashamed to say they attend the school when kids are just having a good time. You know why we have a good time? Unlike most of you idiots, we attend a top school in the nation and we like to blow off some steam on the weekends. I think it's awesome that people go out and have a great time at the games. You all disgust me. Were you ever in college? Oh yea, and all the people talking about the terps being so much better, you're out of the NCAA tournament. Fools.

the kids in this blog are actually intelligent. they just like to have a good time and make fun of themselves. are any of you actually taking the guy dressed as a chicken to be a serious mark of his IQ? i dont even understand why people who wrote above me are trying to make an argument like that. kind of defeats the purpose of "fans at a basketball game" no?